The 67's was looking to take a step forward this year and felt that LaFrenierre was ready to take over the number 1 from a decent goalie. So they traded Lazarev to Barrie. They felt that LaF was ready it just hasn't worked out that way so far.

Olivier Lafreniere may have seemed as much to Owen Sound Attack fans if his new teammates could have found their scoring touch and given the goalie two wins instead of a pair of losses in his first action over the weekend.

The new goaltender only allowed one goal in each of his first two starts after the Attack went nearly a calendar month allowing four or more in every game.

Lafreniere was told by his former Ottawa 67’s coaches he’d been traded during a practice, and taken off the ice. He had been told by his agent the night before a team was interested in him, and was happy to receive a call from Dale DeGray welcoming him to the Attack.

“He said we need you. You’re a key role now for this team,” Lafreniere recalled of the conversation.

The Attack, a widely held favourite in early season predictions to compete for the top spot in the western conference, have fallen to eighth place after over-age goaltender Zach Bowman left the team.

Bowman’s departure left 16-year-old Mack Guzda and Junior B call-up Riley Daniels in a tough spot trying to pick up the slack in a stretch of six-straight Midwest division games. The Attack would drop all six.

In Ottawa, Lafreniere had a goals-against-average above four and save percentage below .900. Not inspiring numbers for a goaltender, but the 67’s had three goalies on their roster and were willing to trade the 19-year-old for a 2019 eighth-round pick and conditional third in 2021.

It's a price DeGray was comfortable paying.

Now, in his first two games with the Attack, his goals-against average is 0.98 and he has a a save percentage of .941. It’s a very small sample size, and he didn’t face a lot of shots, but coach Todd Gill said he saw the team play with a lot of confidence with him backing them up following the game against Kingston Saturday night.

For Lafreniere, the change of scenery was a welcomed one. He grew up in Bradford, Ont., and is looking forward to playing closer to home.

He notes it wasn’t all strange faces in new places as the Attack loom large within the small hockey world. Lafreniere has been working with Owen Sound’s goaltending coach Greg Redquest in the summers since he was playing minor peewee. He played with forward Chase Campbell in Ottawa and spent time as teammates in minor hockey and summer puck with Jonah Gadjovich and Kevin Hancock.

“It’s nice to see some familiar faces,” he said. “I’m more than excited to be a part of the Attack and looking forward to bringing a couple of wins.”

Wins are something which have been hard to come by for the Attack recently, and will be in high-demand following the break if the Attack hope to meet the now seemingly lofty preseason prognostications.

The affable Lafreniere does not want to be typecast as an eleventh-hour superhero, or redeemer, but there is no doubt he’ll be leaned on heavily if the Attack hope to be playing hockey well into the spring season.

“I’m really looking forward to playing in front of the great fans in Owen Sound,” he said. “It’s a great hockey city and I am honoured to be here and get the chance to play.”